[Richie]

Personally, I adored the 4-5-1 in 01-03 - Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Veron, Giggs, Ruud.

Originally Posted by PeeJay

I didn't dislike it either but I'm saying we should have put Scholes as the advanced member of the midfield rather than Veron as he is more natural to that roll.

[scott 4 evra]

I thought he was awful in general. Put in a few decent performances in the champions league but I have never seen a player give the ball away so much. I can think of many goals we conceded because of him, particularly the Middlesboro at home when we lost 1-0, Bosic scored. He is even worse now and still gets in the Argentina team.

He was quite decent before he came to us. As others have said it was tough for him to break into our strong midfield.

[sweet fa]

veron was a good player but it never quite gelled for him at utd , some people regard him as a flop purely because of the massive price utd paid but thats not verons fault .
i don't think the premierships fast pace suited his game and utd were mostly playing with 1 striker at that time so midfield was a bit more crowded and veron didn't quite shine , but prior to joining utd he was fantastic in italy . you win some you lose some i guess.

[reddwarf]

I think people exaggerate how much of a flop Veron was. He was still a member of a Premier League winning side, scored a few cracking goals and played very well for us in the Champions League. His technical ability and passing were outstanding but he never got used to the pace of the Premier League. He didn't live up to his price tag but calling him one of the 'biggest ever flops' is incredibly harsh.

[daveskimufc]

veron wasnt a flop. he just couldnt handle the pace of the prem.

in the CL he was brilliant. loads of time to pick out passes.

i remember in CL vs olympiakos (i think) he played a great one-two with becks ran 20 yrds then chipped the goalie from 25yrds. brilliant

[Nemanjaaa]

The only reason people see him as a flop is because of his price. On the pitch he wasn't, as he had some fantastic games for us but people just automatically think of the price. There were a number of issues why he didn't perform as consistently as we would have like, but he was certainly no flop..

It would have been interesting to see him get that one more season as he looked good that pre-season, as you said.

Originally Posted by manutd004

Simple as, if he had come in for a small fee such as < 5m, he wouldn't be regarded as a flop by anyone IMO.

I remember one goal he scored against Everton once, was genius.

I agree, he may be on of those who maybe with an extra season could of delivered at the standard everyone knows they can such as others like Morientes and Forlan.

[stretty]

well i am personally pleased with the reaction and an glad that most reds agree with me , although i think a couple of his errors resulted in goals and these were highlighted unfairly by the media who wanted him to fail.
I also think when he first arrived the team were not tuned into him ie he would play the through balls and the strikers would not make the runs , just when he was coming good fergie went and sold him and i was gutted

[migueldadon]

considering his price tag and his inconsistency I definitely think he was a flop, no doubt about it.

[realisticfan]

If you have ever seen Veron playing for Lazio or Argentina, you will say ' hey why can't he deliver this while playing for United'.

As stated by most of you guys, Veron NEVER got use to the pace of the Premiership. He was never a flop for Lazio ot Argentina but unfortunately he is considered a flop while playing for United.

He alway failed to assist the defence when under attack unlike Scholes Keano, Becks or Giggs. He was also prone to losing the ball as he is used to the slower pace Italian league.

Make no mistake, I like Veron as a player while he was playing for his country. I Luv his through & precise passes when playing for United BUT he is still consider a flop as his failings outshine his contributions.

[Carlo]

The buying and selling price was also a major factor in calling him a flop. We paid around 30million and sold him for half that to Chelski. Now that's a major error in the eyes of the media.

[Lambarge16]

But like i said in my first post that preseason tour before he left he was sublime . yet fergie sold him ?.
He always figures in the top ten flop transfers , did these people ever see him play ,also people on this forum have said "well we dont want another veron"

Originally Posted by stretty

Stretty, was this the pre season tour in USA? i remember staying up to watch one of the greatest goals i've ever seen, Veron out-side of the foot pass to Ruud, and ruud hitting an un-stopabble volley into the roof of the net!!! still dream about that goal!!!! think we won every game on tour although didnt have the greatest of seasons!!!

Veron was a class act, some of my favourite days at O.T were watching Veron and Beckham warm up, pinging the ball 30-40yards on the volley!!!

[stretty]

Stretty, was this the pre season tour in USA? i remember staying up to watch one of the greatest goals i've ever seen, Veron out-side of the foot pass to Ruud, and ruud hitting an un-stopabble volley into the roof of the net!!! still dream about that goal!!!! think we won every game on tour although didnt have the greatest of seasons!!!

Veron was a class act, some of my favourite days at O.T were watching Veron and Beckham warm up, pinging the ball 30-40yards on the volley!!!

Originally Posted by Lambarge16

That was the one mate what a great game , like yourself i stayed up to watch it and i was not dissapointed veron and ruud were on a different level

[Revanth]

he was a great player
just could adapt to the pl

[stretty]

here we go again veron is mentioned in fergies top 5 transfer failures , this is what i was going on about people who never saw him play have this percetion of him being a flop Sir Alex Ferguson's best and worst signings | Manchester United - Times Online

[futbol]

Massimo Taibi

[hdcantona]

Who can forget Saba Veron I don't think he was the biggest flop ever at all, I like a few others, believe he was desperately unlucky, and the price tag put a lot of expectation and pressure on him.

[Roland Deschain]

very unlucky yes. i was gutted when it didnt work out. But the fact is it didnt. And we paid 28m for a handful of quality games (mostly in the CL) So although others such as Taibi and Djemba were far far worse, their price tag was far far less. Therefore taking money into account and massive wages, he really does go down as our biggest flop in the fergie era.

[Lj82]

My memory of Veron was underwhelming in his first season, good in the league in his second while being excellent in Europe.

The season in which he signed, it seemed like a needless signing. It was as if a world class talent all of a sudden became available and Utd just had to sign him. A signing for the sake of signing instead of addressing the team's need. In the same season UTD signed Blanc and Ruud but most crucially, sold Stam after the season had started. Utd lost the league that year and Veron being the biggest signing was made the scapegoat. (so was Blanc. He was signed to partner Stam, not replace him).

The next year however, I think Veron really knuckled down and played really well. I remember thinking he was GOD in the champions league, scoring 4 goals in the first round. He didn't do too badly in the league either and played well. I felt the crucial point was the team finally adjusted to him and Scholes began to revel in the advance role given to him. I consider that as Scholesy's best season. The signing of Rio helped added defence solidarity. I truly began to believe Veron will be the lynch-pin of UTD's midfield alongside Keano. However luck was not on his side and he suffered an injury that ruled him out for the much of the second half of the season. Utd still managed to win the league but suffered in Europe. Veron eventually returned to play but did not regain his earlier form in time before UTD got knocked out I remember. Still his future looked bright and red to me at that time.

During the pre season USA tour that followed, he was superb. Becks had left and everyone thought it was time for Veron to shine. I remember distinctly while interviewed in the states, SAF said that Veron is not for sale. But when the team got back to England, he found out a bid had been accepted by Kenyon. I remember finding the whole incident fishy, esp how fergie was so defensive of Veron only to see him suddenly sold. At that time if I remember correctly, UTD was chasing Ronaldhino. Maybe all these played a part in the decision to sell him, but I still bear a sinister thought that it was that @#$%#%^%$^#$ Kenyon who made the decision to sell rather than Fergie, however unlikely that would have been. I can't remember the exact quotes but SAF said something along the line that things changed back home while the team was in USA.

Veron to me was one that could have reached the heights of other UTD greats but never did so due to his short stint, tough luck and somewhat inability to adapt. He was costly, and did not live up to expectations, but he was not a flop in the sense of a player whom couldn't even get into the team. He just did not live up to his price tag, which wasn't really his fault as he did not set the price. He was still easily an important first team player in a league winning team.

[stretty]

welcome lj82 very good post mate enjoyed reading it , especially about kenyon (god how i hate that man)could have been to blame for verons departure, i certainly think something fishy went on there.
I remember fergie kept saying he was going nowhere and when united got back home he was gone to chelsea , i remember being gutted and shocked by his departure .

[Lj82]

welcome lj82 very good post mate enjoyed reading it , especially about kenyon (god how i hate that man)could have been to blame for verons departure, i certainly think something fishy went on there.
I remember fergie kept saying he was going nowhere and when united got back home he was gone to chelsea , i remember being gutted and shocked by his departure .

Originally Posted by stretty

Thanks!
It does seem unlikely that anyone else other than Fergie could have a say in whether a player stays or leave, but it still feels suspicious I must say. And of cause Kenyon went on to join Veron at Chelsea. I will never forget how he managed to ****-up the Robben transfer when it seems 100% sure that he will join UTD, only for UTD to retract on a formal offer to PSV and want Robben to stay there til his contract wind down. Then, Robben joins Chelsea. During the same season he managed to mess up the Ronaldhino deal by refusing to pay that couple of million more.

I believe Fergie doesn't have a high opinion of Kenyon as well.
When asked about Gill taking over Kenyon, I remember he said something like 'That's the best thing that could have happened to UTD'.